That’s insane. I have the same Bose over-the-ear (I can’t stand in-ear) headphones for years. They have been to the gym with me, jogging, and just existing in a humid, Tokyo summer for the last 5.5 years and have zero electronic issues. I did replace the exterior cushiony bit twice now, but the actual electronics are fine.
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I’ve had some Bose Quiet Comfort (I think maybe it was the very first model, but might be the 2nd) for over a decade, with tons of use (for a while I did software development in the middle of a Trading Floor, think highly intellectual focus requiring work in the middle of a fishmonger’s market) and had to use those things all the time.
They’re all scratched on the outside by now (from going in and out of a backpack) and the ear cups were replaced twice.
Still work fine.
Similar experiences with my Quiet Comforts II. I’m not using the shell it comes with, so it’s buffed a little, and had to replace the earcaps twice just because they get worn down in my backpack, but they work absolutely perfect.
Sure, the battery life isn’t as great as it was when I bought them in 2017 but for single-day usage they’re fine and I just give it a small micro-usb-powered pep-talk every night to use them the next day.
From your comment I think mine might be the QC 1, as mine just use normal AAA batteries and the battery life of mine can be “refreshed” by buying new rechargeable batteries ;)
Do they block outside sound though? AirPods do and the trouble with that is you’re also trapping air in with your ears.
And the air being trapped close to your skin will inevitably be a different temperature to the air on the other side of the material. The temperature gradient creates condensation. It’s inevitable.
Assuming you want good sound isolation* the solution isn’t to avoid condensation, it’s to design it so the condensation forms somewhere that it doesn’t matter.
(* AirPods sound isolation is so good they have a microphone on the outside which, if it detects a fire/eathquake/etc evacuation siren, will replay that sound with the headphone speaker)
Airpods have good ANC, but they’re not magically better than things on the market. My 3 year old Sennheiser Momentum TW2s have better ANC, and cost $250 less.
I have a special interest in ANC over ear headphones for work and travel and do buy nearly every serious contender as soon as it becomes available (I have or had the BOSE QC35, QC35 II, 700, QC45, the SONY WH-1000XM3, XM4, and the AirPods Max. I‘ve yet to buy the XM5s). The AirPods ANC is far beyond the competition especially if it’s cancelling noises other than continuous rumbling like noise spikes, human voices and such. All of them are good or great at blocking background noises (even the original QC35 is still capable enough there), but the AirPods Max are far superior in unpredictable environments. This isn’t some magic BOSE or SONY are incapable of, this is just economics: Apple charges more than double the competition‘s prices, has special access to chips and isn’t just a scammy luxury company without serious RnD, but also has the resources and knowledge to develop outstanding software. This isn’t a judgement on the other factors though: the Max are heavy, their sound is borderline “Beatsy” (no surprise there, since they are probably related), they have nearly no external media control, the bag they come in and the way they are stowed makes them really unwieldy - and first thing you need to do if you receive them is tape over the little “SIM ejector”-like holes under their cushions as the article describes. Their superior ANC comes with a lot of costs attached.
isn’t just a scammy luxury company
Lol
Interesting. I no longer travel or commute as much as I used to so my QC35s are still perfectly OK for the occasions I do. Interesting to know about the others on the market.
Are you implying airpods are the only devices on the market with good ANC? lmaoo
Closed-back headphones and ANC are nothing new, and the Bose QC line (which I assume is what the previous commentator has), are indeed closed-back ANC headphones.
I found your attempts to explain somewhat condscending, and also feel like it’s treating the Airpods like they’re some revolutionary product, which they’re not. Feel free to correct me if that was not your itention.
Do they block outside sound though
They have noise cancellation that works well enough for me (they have more advanced newer versions, but I see no reason to upgrade now). When I first tried my friend’s before buying, I complained he ruined the world for me because I never knew how much background could be cut out, heh.
Yeah, the condensation is inevitable and does need to go somewhere. I don’t know where it goes with mine, but the headphones keep on working.
Bose pretty much wrote the book on noise cancelation.
I’ve used Bose Quite Comfort (the I or the II, not sure anymore) in the trading floor of an Investment Bank (think fishmonger’s market but with financial assets) back in the late 00s to be able to do software development (which requires focus and concentration to do efficiently).
They most definitly block outside noise (still do, in fact, over a decade and 2 earcup replacements later).
Still work fine. Somehow the “condensation” “problem” was already solved a decade and a half ago.
Oh and even though noise-cancelling tech in headphones was near-bleeding edge back then, which is not at all now, they cost roughly half as much as these airpods which fail “due to condensation” (though inflation adjusted and using the higher GDPUSD cross-exchange rate from back then, it’s maybe only 2/3 as much)
They cost $550, but they’re certainly not worth $550
Stop buying logos people
Funnily enough, I don’t think there are any visible Apple logos in the AirPods Max.
They don’t literally mean a logo in this case they essentially mean don’t buy a brand because of the brand but something because it’s good and worthwhile.
Is this another “your holding it wrong” level argument they’re making?
This is an Apple miss. Their tendency for status equaling heavy materials and lack of obvious options just makes it a no-go for me. Noise cancelling, wireless, over the ear headphones exist for airplanes. Having a headset that is heavy, that doesn’t fold and can’t be turned off (only put to sleep in a dumb bra-like case) don’t meet that mark.
I’m sure they sound great and the magnetic ear cups a good idea, but this is a miss for me. The price is the final nail in the coffin. My Sony XM4s sound nearly as good, can be worn for long flights without fatigue, fold up, and because they’re light but sturdy plastic I’m not worried about them denting or anything like that if I drop them. And I didn’t have to pay over $500 for them.
I tested them and they don’t even sound that great. For the price, there are a lot of WAY better options out there.
But that is the case with many Apple products.
Maybe I’m not the most discerning listener, but I got a $60 pair of Skullcandy wireless noise cancelling earbuds and my only problem with them is that you have to hold them down to skip a track rather than just push once (that turns off noise canceling), which is bad UI, but other than that, couldn’t be happier.
If you’re happy with them, then it’s a good pair of headphones for you! I think the best indicator is that if you can listen to them for long sessions on end, then it’s good stuff. If they pinch, itch, if the sound makes you restless or if you feel like taking them off after an album, then it’s not a good match.
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If you think 350 for a pair of headphones is expensive, don’t become an audiophile…
Arguably, if you’re compressing the signal wirelessly via Bluetooth, the ceiling for quality is probably in that low couple hundred bucks market. Apple probes people will overpay for something but anything actually better is probably going to be wired.
I’m not even talking Wireless. I’m talking about headphones in general.
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Airpods Pro are actually quite competitive in its category.
And my dollar store earbuds have gone through the wash three times and still work.
Surely they sound great too. Noise reduction and all
I mean, of course my earbuds sound like garbage, but the airpod max should not break from sweat lol.
You do realize that for 500$+ you can safely enter audiophile territory with significantly higher quality and noise canceling. Not everyone is gullible to believe Apple makes best and for some people bare minimum would do just fine. For fucks sake you can get bone conducting bluetooth headphones for swimming at around 150$. Not to mention Sennheiser HD600 is in 300$ range, which is … so much better than anything Apple will ever produce.
But the huhduh 600 have no anc, and require a dac to carry them around.
The maxes are ridiculously overpriced but other than that they are great headphones with a really low number of direct competitors (being good sounding wireless headphones with noise cancelling). In that regard im really happy with mine. They might be cheaper and lighter but the anc blows anything i tried out of the water and they sound great too (relative, so feel free to hate me for saying it, but a lot of people praised how they sound)
How do you stand those things?? I’ve tried dollar tree headphones and they were awful awful. I like VE monks as beaters
Apple has done the math and it’s cheaper to deny deny deny than to do the right thing. And that’s factoring in the inevitable class action lawsuit payouts.
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I knew exactly what clip this would be. I think it’s about time for my annual fight club rewatch. Always makes me want to/wonder why no one has started some anti corporate domestic terrorist groups…
I think we might be on the brink. I just saw an article about someone getting in a shootout with the sheriff trying to evict him. It’ll start with individual acts like that and snowball.
Rooting for the demise of society is a weird place I didnt think I’d be at the first time I saw fight club. It’s funny how I’ve gotten more radicalized as I’ve aged.
The Max might have more questionable design decisions than any Apple product in history
The Magic Mouse would like a word.
Magic Mouse: charging port on bottom
AirPods Max: can’t turn off without putting in case, can’t use wired, condensation death
I’m ready for the downvotes but I still don’t understand the general hate for the Magic Mouse. Once every two weeks I let it charge for 30 minutes while I’m having a lunch break and never have to worry about it.
How many times do you happen to need to charge your mouse and use it at the same time?
In the same boat as you. When I did use a Magic Mouse I’d just plug it in when I got up to go to the bathroom or get a drink, and not every time either. Never had the battery run out.
I stopped using it because the ergonomics don’t fit my hand very well.
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Wait, the power switch is on the case? That’s so stupid.
That is the very definition of form over function.
No there is no power switch. It detects when it’s in the case and turns off. I think it turns off outside the case after a period of inactivity.
Can’t be used wired out of the box but do support Lightning to 3.5mm jack. Source: owner of AirPods Max who’s had them replaced 4 times now due to faults.
Please - while connecting the cable to the bottom is less than ideal, it’s still var better than swapping out batteries.
It’s not like they need to be plugged in all day - if it dies on you, fill up your glass of water and you’ll be fine. Also low battery warnings appear weeks before it goes flat.
Still dumb design, since my mouse I can use wired as it charges without interruption.
The fact that it even needs excuses like go fill up a glass of water as you wait shows why.
The fact that people would use it wired in 100% of the time is pretty much the reason of the bottom charge port. Apple doesn’t want their products to look cluttered with unnessesary cables
If they want to use it wired all the time then that’s their choice, since then wireless must not be a strong selling point for them.
If any other mouse manufacturer came out with that bottom charge approach it’d be considered a dumb design.
Not to mention other wireless mouses have had docks or charging pads for years, so still a dumb design and all I hear are excuses for it.
I agree 100% - it’s a stupid design. Just want to give a reason why apple is shoving it down the throats of their deciples
Yeah, but even the charging process seems so inelegant and crude visually compared to like the magnetic apple pencil charging. It’s surprising it’s an Apple design, since magnetic charging or some dock or mouse pad to have an excuse to up charge the product seems more the Apple way. Like if it didn’t have the Apple logo I would never have guess it was an Apple designed product, but a knock off.
No, Apple didn’t want to design a charging cable specifically for the mouse. The charging cable is exactly the same as the ones for the trackpad, keyboard, iPad and iPhone. The cable would break to damn fast when used connected to a mouse.
It’s about parts supply management, not about the best mouse cable.
Even in that case there exists solutions, like making a deeper cutout for the port along with some attachment mechanism to lock cable movement, preventing the port from wearing out.
Or, they could have made the battery bigger.
It’s the cable itself. It’s one for everything. And it isn’t famous for being durable.
Do they think their customers are so dumb they’d pay for a wireless mouse and use it exclusively wired?
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I prefer to use my mouse wireless, but it sure would be a pain in the ass if I had to just completely stop using my computer when the battery died.
It gets a multi day charge from a few minutes. Plug it in a go pee and it’ll have enough charge for the rest of the week.
It’s only your own fault of you ignore the multi week warnings that the battery is dying or you forget to plug it in to charge after your mini pee charge….
How much of a dickrider to you have to be to not understand that that’s still incredibly stupid.
My mouse also gets ~5 days of (heavy) use from about 10 minutes of charging. Warnings or not, the fact that it’s even a possibility is just shit design.
Well fuck them. If I want to use a cable I should be able to.
I’m sorry but that’s not the true. The battery is die all the sodding time.
When I worked in an office I used to switch the magic mouse off anytime I wasn’t actually using it. Going to the toilet switch the mouse off, going to get a drink switch the mouse off, somebody comes over to talk to me and I don’t need to use the computer switch the mouse off. All this just to extend the battery life.
I then replaced it with a generic Bluetooth mouse that uses one AA battery, and I’ve had it for over 2 years at this point and never needed to replace the AA battery. So either lithium ion has less storage capacity than a chemical battery or the magic mouse has a teeny tiny microscopic battery.
I bought my mom a 0.01$ mouse on Aliexpress which:
- come with a dongle
- is also Bluetooth (dual mode)
- works on battery
- has a charging port on the front
The battery isn’t an argument to put a port on the bottom.
• And has a free key logger.
That’s not the point. My point is just hardware conception.
Not your point, but is is one for Ali… I was just fooling around with your exaggerated example.
Different point is. It isn’t about the battery, it isn’t about the connector on the mouse. It is probably about the charging wire itself (my opinion). I think Apple deliberately choose for the standard charging wire they use for every other product they have (during the time of the launch of the mouse). It al comes down to parts supply management, where Apple is famous for. The choice is use what we have or design something new. They went for what the already got. A charging cable (and port) used for every device they shipped… a cable famous for being brittle, when connected to a device being physically in use.
Imagine this cable being used on a mouse while in use. This would be a bigger issue than a “shitty port location”. People are deliberately forced not to use the brittle cable.
… at the end of the day people who use this mouse seem not to have a problem with the charging choice made. People who don’t use the mouse seem to have more problems with this… and yes, it is a shitty mouse.
With all the engineers at Apple, the could easily design a mouse with a port on the front and which can be used wired and wireless.
I guess these engineers don’t know how to dedig this when it’s available on a cheap Chinese mouse.
Not really the point is it
Interesting. Didn’t know bots had moms.
Up until today I spent my days thirsty, unable to leave my desk because my mouse batteries won’t die! But now, I know to buy the Magic Mouse and now I can leave my desk and enjoy more freedom
the way i misread the title…
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perhaps don’t buy overpriced crap like that and go for the $30 pair on Amazon instead
I got myself some new-old stock Harman Kardon ANC headphones from Ebay for around 50.
I can’t believe people were paying ~300 for them new, they do feel nice to hold, but the sound oomph just isn’t there for that original price. The ANC, stupendously long battery life, and actually being heard in calls is all it really has going for it IMO
“Oh, no! Anyway”
Never had this issue with mine. I’ve taken them kayaking with me, they got pretty wet and i got pretty sweaty, but the insides of the cups were dry. This has been discussed on forums ever since i bought them more than two years ago. This feels like recycled news just to stir people up about apple products. Good journalism. It worked.
Just had it happen to me a few months ago
Oh must be only these people who complained about them to the article author. It couldn’t possibly be survivor bias on your part or more importantly that Apple is at fault.
